India’s Ministry of Finance has overhauled customs allowances for arriving passengers, publishing the Baggage Rules 2026 in an extraordinary gazette late on 1 February. Effective 00:01 hours on 2 February, the duty-free threshold for Indian residents and persons of Indian origin returning by air or sea has risen from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000. Foreign tourists now enjoy a higher exemption of ₹25,000 (up from ₹15,000).
The reform is the first major revision to baggage limits in a decade and reflects both inflation and the government’s push to streamline border formalities ahead of an expected 350 million annual air-traveller milestone by 2028. Jewellery limits have also been rationalised: women resident abroad for at least a year may now bring up to 40 grams of gold jewellery duty-free, while other passengers are capped at 20 grams. High-duty “sin” items such as tobacco, alcohol beyond two litres, firearms, large quantities of cartridges, televisions and unstudded precious metals remain excluded from the concession list.
For global mobility teams, the higher allowance reduces customs paperwork and mitigates unexpected costs when relocating staff or flying in specialists with personal IT equipment. Travellers should still retain purchase invoices to prove value and must declare any restricted items in the re-designed digital customs declaration, which now links directly to the immigration database.
![India raises duty-free allowance to ₹75,000 under new Baggage Rules 2026]()
Travellers seeking a single source for both visa processing and the latest baggage regulations can turn to VisaHQ’s India portal. The platform not only streamlines e-Visa and traditional visa applications but also tracks customs updates such as these new duty-free limits, providing practical checklists to avoid surprises at the airport. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/india/
Customs officials at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru airports told Business Today the new limits cut secondary inspections by roughly 20 percent on day one. Airports are updating signage and e-gates; carriers have been asked to publicise the rule change in pre-arrival announcements.
Companies relocating expatriates in or out of India should review assignment letters that reimburse customs duties and adjust per-diem or relocation budgets to reflect the more generous thresholds.
The reform is the first major revision to baggage limits in a decade and reflects both inflation and the government’s push to streamline border formalities ahead of an expected 350 million annual air-traveller milestone by 2028. Jewellery limits have also been rationalised: women resident abroad for at least a year may now bring up to 40 grams of gold jewellery duty-free, while other passengers are capped at 20 grams. High-duty “sin” items such as tobacco, alcohol beyond two litres, firearms, large quantities of cartridges, televisions and unstudded precious metals remain excluded from the concession list.
For global mobility teams, the higher allowance reduces customs paperwork and mitigates unexpected costs when relocating staff or flying in specialists with personal IT equipment. Travellers should still retain purchase invoices to prove value and must declare any restricted items in the re-designed digital customs declaration, which now links directly to the immigration database.
Travellers seeking a single source for both visa processing and the latest baggage regulations can turn to VisaHQ’s India portal. The platform not only streamlines e-Visa and traditional visa applications but also tracks customs updates such as these new duty-free limits, providing practical checklists to avoid surprises at the airport. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/india/
Customs officials at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru airports told Business Today the new limits cut secondary inspections by roughly 20 percent on day one. Airports are updating signage and e-gates; carriers have been asked to publicise the rule change in pre-arrival announcements.
Companies relocating expatriates in or out of India should review assignment letters that reimburse customs duties and adjust per-diem or relocation budgets to reflect the more generous thresholds.
